The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-04-27

Paris Correspondence e jewelers. Weekly
Before our astonished gaze appeared,
in cases of all shapes, necklaces of pearls,
rivieres of diamonds, jewels, crosses en-
riched with precious stones, swords of
heavily engraved gold ,and-the imperial
crown. They lay upon the table one
blaze of splendOr and for a time all of us
were lost in admiration. At length an
enormous diamond emerged from its
place of concealment. The Regent -
several calculated with bated breath;
and sure enough, it was the unique and
priceless gem worth dukedom at least.
First the jewels which were to be pre-
served ON account of their historic assOcia-
tiOns or their artistic rarity had to be
identified and laid aside. The principal
of these were the Regent, a wonderful
reliquary breach of triangular form, en-
riched with brilliants in the style of
Louis XIV; a sword which is said to have
belonged to Charles Y, mounted in 1924;
a watch of the Dey of Algiers, presented
by him to Louis XIV; a small black ele-
phant of Danish workmanship, a mar
vellous specimen of enamelhng; large
engraved ruby, representing a chimera,
which figured in the Golden Fleece; a
parure of precious stones of the time of
Louis XVI; one of the Mazarin diamonds,
and finally a small dragon. Ornamented
with a pearl mounted on a plaque of
enamelled gold.
The stones which are to find resting
place in the museums were next exam
med. They include three diamond Orna-
ments, three rubies, twelve amethysts,
twenty-One opals, thirteen pearls, two
lots of turquOises, one lot of emeralds,
one lot of topaz roses, one lot of pearls,
one lot of green stones, one diamond
portrait and miscellaneous lot destined
for the School of Mines and composed of
rubies, emeralds, sapphires and dla-
mOnds.
There remain for the sale of the 18th
of May, 81 ,4O3 brilliants, 81 ,119 roses, p
963 pearls, 5O7 rubies, 1876 sapphires, 312
emeralds, 52S turquOises, ~ Opais and
1876 miscellaneous stones A large part
of the stones which are to be sold are
still mounted in necklaces, parures and
diadems but the mOuntings Will be de
stroyed or their identity disguised with
out wholly sacrificing those of historic
significance, and the gems will ultimate
ly shine upon the tables of NJ. Escribe,
the auctioneer, i'm all their naked sPien-
dor.
The work of destruction was mean
while going on. A few blows of the ham,
mer made of the imperial crown mere
lump of gold, ready to be taken to the
mint. NJ. Benjamin Raspail, who smart
ing under the recollection of his treat
ment at the hands of Napoleon III, has
been one of the leading spirits in this
proclamation of the names of royalty, had
claimed for himself the retributive salts
faction of destroying the royal crown,
but, owing to a severe fall, he was con-
fined to the house, and was therefore
obliged to rest content with the instru-
ment of destruction, the hammer, as a
souvenir. His absence is to lie regretted,
for the spectacle of man calmly knock
ing to pieces, with his own hands, the
crown of monarch by whom he had
been prosecuted, would have been
strangely dramatic and phenomenon
scarcely possible in any but these times
of political miracles.